The garden of life brings seasons. The spring with its tender newness, the summer with its delight, the autumn with its bountiful harvest, and the cold dark winter all have their place and time. For some, the winter is long and it trudges on past spring invading the summer and robbing the autumn fields of its splendor. For some, the winter never seems to end. It becomes one tragedy after another, just living from storm to storm and trying to hang on to the sliver of hope that spring is just around the corner. Spring is, after all, just around the corner. It just may be the longest curviest corner in history!
I’ve been there; the feeling of eternal winter. I’ve walked in those cold shoes, wishing I would have had warmer boots to trudge along in, something a little sturdier to keep me from slipping under the massive load I was baring. I write this though from the summer. So I did make it through, though not alone. God was there as I walked through the harsh cold winter air to now bask in the warm sunbeams of summer. My winter may have paled in comparison to yours. It may have looked like a walk in the park compared to the disaster you face today. But we aren’t here to compare winters. Someone will always have a better and someone will always have it worse. The grass is truly only greener where you water it.
So water your grass in the winter. Water that grass that is buried under the muck and mire of dirty snow and ice. Water it by seeing the beauty that is born from adversity. Water it with hope. Water it with love. Water it with tears. Water it with the faith that one day, the snow will fade. The fresh shoots will spring forth and the winter will be no more. Water it with vision. God’s Word tells us without vision we parish. Set your mind then not on what is seen but what is unseen. Fix your eyes on what is eternal. This cold winter will not last, so set your mind on what will last. Though the snow may be deep and the darkness thick, watch for the light. Fix your eyes on He who never changes. The seasons, they shift. This life brings constant change, therefor we must look to the one who stays the same. Our One Constant in any season is up to something. He is working your winter for His glory and when the spring does come, oh what mighty growth will cover the land! You will be changed yes, for the better. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then we shall fully know.
Life here on earth will always bring us winters but we hold fast because we look for an eternal life without season, where He will wipe every tear from our eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things will pass away. The old order, the old seasons will pass. Our One constant remains. Water your grass in each season. Water your grass in faith and know that even if you must walk through the winter, you never walk alone.
Proverbs 29:18, Colossians 3:2, 2 Corinthians 4:18, 1 Corinthians 13:12, Revelation 21:4, Deuteronomy 31:6